


Dungeons and Danvers

by oMgYn0l0g1ns27



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Dungeons and Dragons, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Lena Luthor Is A Nerd, Slow Burn, i've never watched supergirl, i've read a LOT of fanfiction though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27016006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oMgYn0l0g1ns27/pseuds/oMgYn0l0g1ns27
Summary: Lena Luthor has a secret: a dark, terrible secret.Hidden away in an unmarked box, under a pile of old keepsakes and expired documents in an unlit cupboard, lies her greatest shame...(It's a pile of Dungeons and Dragons books. She's a massive nerd.)When her best friend practically begs her to join her game, who is she to say no?
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 76
Kudos: 180





	1. I'm in

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for my wonderful partner, who got into both Supercorp fanfiction and Dungeons and Dragons at my request. She loves them both now. I win!
> 
> T for now. Maybe M later? Probably going to stay T. 
> 
> First 10k words written, feedback appreciated.

"Absolutely not." 

The refusal was expected, but Kara felt like Alex's show of walking to the fridge, opening a beer and taking a swig before answering was a little overkill. She sighed, shaking her head when Alex met her gaze steadily and raised the bottle once more. _Well._

"Please? You don't even know what it's about!"

"I know enough. You remember Matt Peabody?"

Kara grimaced. Yes, she remembered Matt Peabody. She specifically recalled him leaning over her, one hand on a sticky frat house wall at a party he wasn't invited to. His hot breath had rasped over her as he magnanimously offered to teach her the basics of his favourite hobby. Her polite refusal had twisted his features, a blotchy redness rising over his uneven beard as he scowled. Girls just ruined the game anyway, he scoffed. Too much drama. 

Strange then, that he'd made the same offer to Alex within the hour. 

"Matt was not a fair representation!"

"The Stranger Things kids?"

"Lots of fun games are also kid-friendly! You like Monopoly!"

"I put up with Monopoly because you're terrible at poker. They're both games for twelve year olds... and Matt Peabodies." 

"They're games for everyone! I really think you'd enjoy it." 

Alex stood in front of her fridge, her expression resolute. It was becoming clear that this was a battle Kara was unlikely to win without bringing out the big guns. 

"I'll let you have first pick at movie night next week."

A single eyebrow rose above the rapidly-emptying bottle. Kara's heart sank as she realised Alex might genuinely take her up on the offer - she really should have considered what she was willing to give up more. Alex lowered the beer. The corner of her mouth quirked up, cracking the firm blank slate Kara associated with her interrogating criminals and refusing to buy her ice cream. 

"First pick for the rest of the month." 

Kara shrieked, super-speeding towards her sister and stopping in front of her face with a huff of indignation. She prodded Alex's chest. 

"That is SO unreasonable!"

"Kara, you've picked the film every movie night for the past year. I cannot watch another Disney movie."

"You cried at the Lion King!"

"A month. We're watching some Tarantino."

A shudder ripped through Kara as she fought off the images of the films she'd have to endure: the gore, the feet, the slurs... the feet. Still, James needed her. With Winn busy at his new coder's club on Thursday nights and Lucy re-deployed for the foreseeable future, their adventuring party was struggling to recreate the atmosphere he liked to cultivate in his games. She'd promised she'd try her absolute hardest to get Alex on board. 

"....Fine. You'll come?"

Alex sucked in a breath. "I didn't think you'd agree to that. You'll watch a movie rated higher than PG with me?"

"I guess..." 

"Then I'm in. But how do you even play Dungeons and Dragons?"

\------

  
  


"I'm in."

Lena tried to hide the excited tremor in her voice, but the way Sam cocked her head told her she'd been less than successful.

"What, just like that?"

Sam was sprawled out on her couch, boots kicked off and strewn with her jacket on Lena's plush carpet. Lena flushed, leaning back against her kitchen island but straightening again when she felt it begin to crumple her dress. She’d avoided squirming under the sneers of countless investors for the previous ten hours, but within the comfort of her penthouse her hands slipped down to tug at her hem. 

Sam caught the movement and gave her a look. “Babe. Stop. Go get changed, get the CEO stink off you. I’m ordering take-out.” 

"Is it that obvious?"

"You look like you did when Professor Low caught you texting in freshman year."

"I was looking up the syllabus!" 

"Sure. Either way, we can talk about the game once you look more like my friend and less like a scared bunny in barbed wire armor."

Lena huffed, setting down her wine glass and moving towards the bedroom. "That metaphor seemed like a bit much."

Sam's delighted laugh followed her through the crack she left in the door as she moved to get changed. The bedroom was as she had left it that morning. The duvet was wrapped in on itself, an anxious tangle kicked into submission by restless feet. She unraveled it, smoothing down the corners before moving to her wardrobe. The walk-in closet dwarfed Lena's meagre collection of pencil skirts and office appropriate dresses. 

Beneath the deep blues and purples (colourful enough that nobody could call her boring, dark enough that nobody could call her fun) of her office wear sat a rack of shoes and a chest of drawers. She swapped her heels for plimsolls and her dress for leggings and an MIT hoodie. Finally, she undid her hair from its tight ponytail and ran her fingers through it a few times. The make up could stay, for now. She had to stop Sam from ordering anything too extravagant while she was gone. 

She was too late. Sam shot her a smirk as she hung up the call, swinging her feet off of the sofa and patting the cushion next to her. The wine bottle Lena had definitely put back in the fridge sat open at her feet beside two full glasses perched precariously on the white carpet. "Sit. Drink. Chill."

“Do you talk to Ruby like that?”

“Ruby gets her wine in a sippy cup.” 

“So what are you subjecting me to tonight?”

“Usual.”

“And…?”

“And yes, I got you the side salad as well.” 

“Great. So, about earlier?”

“When I was prepared to call in every favour you owed me to get you to join my D&D game and you jumped at the chance?”

Lena coughed. “What, was I supposed to refuse?”

  
“You were supposed to put up a fight! Or ask for details, or something! And you’re not even a little surprised I asked? You made fun of me non-stop when you found out I played ultimate frisbee.”

“You started calling it ‘‘bee’. It was my duty to nip that in the bud.”

“I could’ve gone pro.”

“I’m sure. Do you _want_ me to mock you?” 

Sam huffed. “No. But don’t you have questions?”

Lena paused, pursing her lips and taking a long sip to buy time as she considered her next move. It wasn’t that she didn’t _want_ Sam to know that she was excited to play with her, rather that she didn’t know how to explain exactly how excited she _was_.

It would absolutely be an exaggeration to suggest that Lena spent the majority of her nights reading about D&D. It would even be too far to guess as many as _half_ of her nights. _Most_ of her nights were spent reading ledgers, emails and budgets, replying to those messages which Jess marked as “urgent” and deleting those she marked as “From Maxwell Lloyd”. _Some_ of her nights involved crashing into bed and sleeping like the dead. It was only those nights when numbers and headlines swam in front of her eyes that she turned to the well-worn books that normally sat hidden beneath random trinkets in the chest in her cupboard. She’d steadfastly ignored their faded covers when she changed tonight, their normally comforting presence suddenly a smoking gun. 

She liked the monsters, okay? The books were full of stumbling ghouls, soaring dragons, bright colours and dark descriptions. Was she so wrong to appreciate good art? And if she found a little comfort, every so often, in thinking of the characters she might one day play - with a group of friends she might one day find - then what of it? 

She’d amassed quite the list, at this point. What had started as a casual curiosity, sneaking Lex’s manuals out from his room when he came home from college, listening to him talk about whatever twists he was planning to throw the way of his buddies in the next session, had ballooned after his arrest. She was almost surprised he hadn’t taken his manuals with him, bribing some guard or persuading Lilian to do it for him, but she supposed the memory had been spoilt somewhat. 

She’d kept the photo she’d found: the one of Clark, Lex and Lois sat around a table strewn with dice that she’d found tucked into the pages of the Players Handbook. In it, Lex sat imperiously behind a cardboard screen. It was called being the Dungeon Master, she knew. She’d teased him a little when she first heard the term, then regretted it when he retaliated with fabricated tales of sadomasochistic sexual exploits. Even with the twinkle in his eye telling her he was joking, it was still far too much information. Still, a little part of her wondered if he didn’t get off on the power of being the one to run the game, creating the details of the world that the players adventured in. That was the same little part that questioned whether she kept the photo because she missed him or as a reminder of all the megalomaniacal signs she had missed. 

She tried not to ask herself what kind of character Clark might have played when she created her own. A paladin, maybe? A righteous knight of a sworn oath, wielding divine power to save innocents? Sounded just up his alley. He probably considered his reporting some kind of higher calling. Lois would have been a spellcaster of some sort - maybe a wizard or a bard. Something not too far from herself. 

_People always play themselves_ , Lex had told her.

But Lena liked to get away from her own life when she made her characters. She balanced their attributes perfectly, noting down their abilities and proficiencies, scribbling increasingly detailed backstories on the back of their character sheets. There was Brodohmiar, the half-elf champion fighter, trained by his knightly older brother before setting out to make his own name. Or Malakav, the human raised by monks who treated him as a cherished son and taught him martial arts. Her favourite, though, was Simahl. 

Born to a loving family of half-orcs, Simahl had Lena’s love of science without all of the social constraints holding him back. He harnessed the anger she felt burning within her every day, using it to make a difference in his life and others. He was a hero. 

Lena loved him. On the nights her mood was highest - post a successful merger or research development, say - she practiced his voice and mannerisms in the mirror. It was an Irish brogue, and she had gotten pretty good at it. 

Nobody could ever know. Meeting Sam’s curious gaze, she hesitated, then made a decision. 

“Of course I have questions. What is this game, exactly?”


	2. Session Zero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Alex get their first taste of adventure - or adventure prep, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left comments last time! It really makes writing a lot easier. Please let me know what you think of this next instalment! I'm going to be uploading at least weekly, on Wednesdays, with additional chapters on Sundays whenever I'm on a roll/particularly inspired. Comments help with that ;)

Across the city, Kara had broken out the diagrams. She waved a crude drawing of a table in Alex’s face and gestured to one of the little figures that sat at it. It was hard to tell, but it looked like they were behind some kind of wall.

“So, this is the DM, right?”

“The…?”

“Oh, sorry, the Dungeon Master! We say DM or GM for short. G like ‘game’.”

“Dungeon… master. Kara?”

Kara looked up with innocent eyes. “Yeah?”

“What… what does this game actually involve?”

“Well, it’s about role playing, see?” She pointed to another figure wearing what looked like a wizard’s hat. 

“I’m not sure what I’m seeing.” 

“Right, of course! I’m getting ahead of myself. So the DM creates the world, right? Like makes it up. As if they were writing a story. Or I guess you can use pre-made worlds and stuff but that’s besides the point.”

“What exactly  _ is  _ the point?”

“Fun! We all make up characters and the DM - James - tells us what’s happening in the world, then we respond in character.” 

“Kara, I thought we agreed I was allowed to disown you if you ever got into improv.”

Kara laughed nervously. “It’s not  _ exactly _ like improv. There are rules, and stuff.”

“Right. How do you win then?”

“What do you mean? You don’t win Dungeons and Dragons.”

“That feels like my line. Like, ‘everyone loses when they choose to play’.”

“No! I mean, the only point is to build a good story together! You can have your character die, which you might consider losing? But it’s still a win if you had fun!”

“Jesus. Then what are the rules?”

“Well, you’ll pick it up as you go, but basically…”

—-

The group’s meeting place, Lena learned, rotated every week - they played a session at everyone’s homes except James’. It was bad etiquette to make the DM host or buy snacks when they already had to prepare the world for them to play in, Sam explained, mirroring words she had once heard from Lex. As they ascended the stairs to Alex’s apartment, Lena reached out to touch Sam’s elbow. 

“Who are these people again?”

“Well, I got into it through Lucy, who won’t be here. But the DM is James. He’s a photographer for CatCo. Then there’s Kara. She’s… bubbly.”

“...bubbly?”

“Yes. And she’s bringing her sister, Alex, who works for, like, the FBI or something. She was already the one who recruited Nia a couple of months ago. Nia’s a sweetheart, you’ll love her.”

“FBI.”

“Yeah, Kara makes her sound badass. And it was cool of her to host on her first time. Wonder what her flat is like? Full of hidden cameras, bet you.”

“I highly doubt it has any more hidden cameras than you have baby monitors.”

She knocked on the door, which swung open almost before she had made contact with it. The woman in the other side certainly didn’t  _ look  _ particularly badass, nor like any of the agents Lena had encountered throughout her multiple assassination attempts. Her long, blonde hair was pulled back into a pony and she grinned as she adjusted a pair of thick rimmed glasses. The polka dot blouse fit her well, and looked smart enough for an office, but it wasn’t exactly tactical gear. 

Lena processed all that information subconsciously. Her conscious mind was far too busy trying to stop her from drooling. This woman was  _ hot.  _ Like, sun-kissed skin, bright smile, sparkling blue eyes type of hot. She looked like she belonged in a magazine, like a model who had run away to become an elementary school teacher. She looked… bubbly. 

_ Oh. _

Sure enough, the vision in the doorway squealed and threw herself into Sam’s arms, wrapping her in a hug. “You’re here! This means we can order food!”

“And here I thought you’d just missed me,” Sam laughed. “Lena, this is Kara.”

And then Lena was under the full force of that megawatt smile. She released a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding and extended a hand in greeting. Kara ignored it, stepping into her space and enveloping her in the same hug that Sam has been treated to. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

Lena stifled a gasp, lifting an uncertain hand to Kara’s back and attempting to relax her muscles. She was far too stiff, and making things awkward, she was sure. But the embrace was over as quickly as it had begun and Lena was returned to her previous position, staring dazedly at an actual goddess while now also overwhelmed by the waft of vanilla scent Kara left behind her. She heard Sam snicker, then stop abruptly.  It was easy to see why - rounding the corner and approaching the door came a second woman. She held a beer tightly in one hand and looked every bit as dumbfounded as Sam did. 

“Sam, Lena, this is Alex!” said Kara, gesturing excitedly. Lena was just able to put aside how lovely her own name sounded on Kara’s lips by focussing on the newcomer. This made a lot more sense. The woman, with her short hair and flannel shirt, looked exactly like Sam’s type. She may not have been in tactical gear, but something about the way she held herself and watched Lena steadily gave off a steely vibe.  _ I don’t want to hurt you,  _ her demeanour said,  _ but I probably wouldn’t mind.  _

Sam seemed speechless, so Lena stepped forward. This time, Alex extended her hand first and Lena took it, nodding to herself in approval. “Pleasure. I’m Lena.”

Alex’s eyebrows drew together as she shook her hand. “Alex. Have we met?”

Lenas pulse began to rise as she cocked her head, keeping her expression neutral. Kara shifted in her peripheral vision, but Lena didn’t turn. 

_ FBI. FBI. FBI.  _

It would be just her luck if her first ever chance to actually  _ play _ Dungeons and Dragons was ruined by someone knowing about the evil brother who introduced her to the game in the first place. Hell, she’d even hoped to keep her billionaire status under wraps if possible, though she realised that her sharp skirt suit left her somewhat overdressed in comparison to the sisters. She would adjust accordingly, if there was a next time to adjust for.  She remembered her lawyer’s advice when she first began to be recognised for Lex’s crimes.  _ You don’t owe anyone the truth, but never, ever lie.  _

So she smiled. It was a little tight, but it did the trick. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we have. Sam would have been livid if we had met and I hadn’t tried to set you up.”

_ All true. _

Sam squawked in indignation as the tips of Alex’s ears turned red. Kara let out a delighted laugh and led them inside. The apartment was small and Spartan, but felt comfortably lived in. Lena cringed internally at the sharp  _ clack  _ of her high heels against the oak wood floor. Kara pointed to a dining table that sat in the middle of the main room, opposite a serving hatch. There sat two more new faces who looked up from a sheet of paper. Although it was Alex’s apartment, Kara took the lead in making introductions. Nia smiled and waved while James stood up to welcome them in. 

“Hey, we were just finishing up Nia’s character sheet.”

Sam whistled, earlier embarrassment forgotten. “Anything good?”

“I’ve subclassed in assassin.” Nia’s voice was far sweeter than the words implied. She blushed prettily when Kara gasped. 

“Assassin?! What happened to the sweet baby bard I knew?”

“Thought I’d try something different, while we’re all making new characters.”

Lena looked around to catch Alex’s reaction and mimicked her clueless expression. In truth, she was impressed - the assassin subclass of rogue wasn’t her personal preference, but within the right party all the forums she frequented said it could be a great asset. 

James sat back down, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Great. That’s everyone then, except Lena and Alex, of course.”

"Well," Lena began sheepishly, "I did come prepared with a couple of concepts. Sam told me about the general themes and so on." 

Alex choked on her beer. "We were meant to come prepared?"

James looked between the two women with wide eyes. "It certainly wasn't required, but that's great! Alex, you and I can come up with something together now if you want?"

Sam looked up. "I'll help!"

Lena swallowed a chuckle and noticed the corners of James' mouth tick up as well. He had a nice smile, and already seemed like a more easygoing DM than Lex. "Sure. Kara, could you go over what Lena brought with her? I know you like to supervise all food orders but I'm sure Nia's got it, and you know the rules better." 

Kara looked a little torn, glancing between Lena and the phone in Nia's hand before eventually acquiescing. Nia gave a cheerful salute and headed off to make the call. 

Right. Lena was working with Kara. Pretty, pretty Kara. Not a big deal. She just had to remember to pretend not to know too much about D&D without sounding like a blithering idiot. And not stare. At the pretty, pretty girl. Right. Yes. 

Kara, meanwhile, had shaken off her food-related anguish and was smiling invitingly, patting the seat at the table next to her. Lena took it, clearing her throat and reaching into her bag for her papers. She knew these concepts by heart, having enjoyed many evenings weighing up the races, classes and abilities she wanted for her first ever real character. Was it possible to seem too nerdy at a D&D game? She didn't want to find out.

"So!" Kara began, "What were you thinking about?"


	3. Simahl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Character creation gets going

_ "So!" Kara began, "What were you thinking about?"  _

"Well, I was talking to Sam, and obviously I could have misunderstood the rules-"

Kara leaned forward, reaching an earnest hand out towards Lena's without actually grasping it. A small frown flitted across her features. "I'm sure your ideas are great, and we all forget the rules all the time. You're going to be fantastic!". 

Cheeks heating up, Lena steeled herself and continued. “Well, his name is Simahl - he’s kind of a take on Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.”

“Sounds great! So a wizard?”

“Multiclass artificer/barbarian. 4 levels in artificer, subclassing in alchemist, 1 level barbarian.” 

Kara’s mouth fell open a little, and Lena couldn’t help but let her eyes flicker to her bottom lip. God, this woman was beautiful.

_ Focus. What’s she reacting to? Shit. The character build was too much. _

“I mean, I don’t really know-”

“No, no!” Kara rushed to cut her off. “I just didn’t realise you’d done as much research as you had! It’s an interesting idea. Why did you pick that?”

_ Okay, you’re new to this. Don’t go into it too much.  _

“Oh… I just… I like science, so an alchemist seemed a bit like a chemist? And then barbarians are… strong, so.”

Kara nodded, lips pursed in thought. “Okay, that’s an amazing start! And the Doctor Jekyll aspect is a super cool backstory! That can sometimes be the hardest part. But are you sure it’s an optimised build?”

Lena held back a snort.  _ Of course I’m sure.  _

Lex had told her about the different ways to build characters. Mostly, he was using it as an opportunity to bitch about Lois and praise Clark, back when praising Clark was all he liked to do. She'd heard all about “optimizing” - building a character whose strengths and attributes worked together as effectively as possible. At least, Lex called it “optimizing” when he or Clark did it, and “metagaming” when Lois did. The latter was said with a sneer, and she’d found plenty of others who held the same derision online.

Of course, Lena wasn’t supposed to know  _ any  _ of this.

“Well, obviously I’d be very grateful for your assistance in making it work, and I certainly did think more about the backstory than the, uh, numbers.”

In Lena’s opinion, there were different ways to optimise a character. An artificer and a barbarian needed different attributes - intelligence and strength respectively - so a multiclass wouldn’t be able to maximise one area. Sihmal wasn’t optimised in that respect, but she’d triple checked that the build was still  _ feasible.  _ Being the weakest character in the game wouldn’t be any fun! Besides, he was optimised for role play. An alchemist whose experiments had gone awry, leading him to occasionally transform into a super-strong, angry version of himself? She’d been  _ so _ excited when the idea came to her. Her very own take on the Hulk. 

Kara smiled understandingly. “I do the same thing. I’m just worried because you’re not technically allowed to cast spells while in a rage.”

“Right. But that’s the difference between an artificer and a wizard - the artificer uses most of their spell slots up before combat. As an alchemist, I could put all my slots into making elixirs at the start of the day, then go into a rage for battle. I’d benefit from all the resistances to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing that the barbarian rage affords while still getting the magical effects of the potions without having to actually cast a spell. The _real_ question is whether I want to go Tiefling for the intelligence boost and fire resistance or half-orc for the strength boost and relentless endurance. I’m leaning towards half-orc, because the Tiefling charisma bump isn’t particularly relevant, and I like the idea of playing a smart orc. Plus, the constitution boost would be nice for the hit points, which I’ll have to sacrifice a little bit when I take the artificer levels. What do you think?”

“I think you’ve played Dungeons and Dragons before,” Kara replied, a twinkle in her eye.

_ Damnit.  _

Lena closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose as she ran through what she had just said. She hadn’t even lasted five minutes. “Please don’t tell Sam.”

“Why don’t you want Sam to know?”

“It’s embarrassing! I didn’t know she played so never told her, and now that I’ve lied there’s no way I can admit it.”

Kara laughed, a delighted, melodic thing that filled the room. Sam and Alex looked up from where they sat together, Sam’s hand on the back of Alex’s chair. James appeared to have excused himself from the conversation, leaving the two to their flirting. Lena smiled tensely, and Kara quietened as she saw her discomfort. “Okay, it can be our secret.”

“Can I ask what you’re playing?”

“Human ranger! A beastmaster.”

“And you were worried _my_ build wouldn’t be strong enough?”

“Hey! Rangers get  _ such _ an unfair treatment! They’re nowhere near as bad as people say.”

“Sure, but in a world of magic and heroic adventuring, why would you choose to play a glorified Boy Scout?”

“Ahem! It’s a Boy Scout with an animal companion! Does your scientist get a pet?”

“...No, that’s a good point.”

It was sometime later, while they were finalising the exact abilities and proficiencies of their characters, that the doorbell indicated food had arrived. Lena could have sworn that the speed at which Kara leapt from her seat was faster than humanly possible. As she watched - and yes, she watched - Kara caught herself a little, slowing to a more appropriate speed but still practically thrumming in excitement for dinner. Lena didn’t notice the tiny smile playing at the corner of her own lips until she was knocked out of her reverie by Sam throwing a pencil at her head.

“Gonna put your tongue back in your mouth, Lena?”

Lena huffed, raising an eyebrow at Alex’s head, which was bent over her character sheet in frustrated confusion.  _ She’s one to talk.  _

Of course, it was at that exact moment that Alex chose to look up, sighing as she put down her pencil. She caught Lena’s eye and startled. “What, do I have something in my hair?”

“No, I’m so sorry! I was just… trying to read your character’s name.”

Alex glanced down. “I haven’t thought of one yet. Are you faring any better than I am?”

“Kara has been showing me the ropes.”

“I’ll bet she has!” Hooted Sam, earning matching glares from Lena and Alex. 

Alex turned her whole body away from Sam, a jokingly exaggerated picture of disgust. “Don’t sexualise my sister, Arias.”

“Wow, you two are on a second name basis already?” Lena chuckled. 

“She’ll earn her first name back when she learns some manners. I never got your surname, did I Lena?”

“Ah-“

Thankfully, she was saved by the return of the younger Danvers sister. Lena couldn't help but gasp when she saw the mountain of pizza boxes that Kara was deftly balancing. The pile teetered on her one hand, looking both too unstable and too heavy to be anything but a disaster waiting to happen. Somehow, though, Kara maneuvered through the living room with an almost otherworldly grace. It was clearly far too much food for their group, and Sam hadn't mentioned that anyone else was coming. She shot Alex a quizzical glance. 

"Oh, nobody told you about her appetite, did they?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Half those pizzas are for Kara." 

"Half?!" 

"Just be grateful she's not particularly hungry tonight."

Sure enough, Kara distributed the boxes, setting an array of different pizzas in the middle of the table and keeping far too many for any one mouth by her side. Without another word she flung open the first box and began to inhale its contents. James chuckled, then turned to the group.

"Great, is everyone ready?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments very much appreciated!


	4. Sandy, Neverday, Pilora and Nip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet the other characters

_ "Great, is everyone ready?" _

At the general signals of assent, James continued. "Okay, so this will just be a short, introductory session to let our new players get to grips with the rules, and for everyone to introduce their characters. I think I told you guys, and hopefully you passed it on to Lena and Alex, that it's going to be pretty balanced between combat and roleplay. It's a whole new campaign world, so everyone is on even footing in that sense. We're going for a pretty traditional, epic heroism vibe. In general though, I'm playing it pretty fast and loose with the rules - if it sounds like it will make the game more fun, it's okay. Weird classes, feats, homebrew stuff is all cool, just run it by me. Is that alright? Anyone got any questions?"

Alex nodded. "God, yes. What is homebrew? And why is my character supposedly level 5, when I haven't done levels 1 through 4?"

"Oh, sorry! Great questions. Homebrew is just stuff that isn't in the official rulebooks or guides, stuff that we make up. So the world you'll be playing in is technically homebrewed by me, if that makes sense. Levels aren't really like video games with mandatory completion, you can start at any level. It's a measure of how powerful your characters are. We wanted to skip the first few levels so you'd be able to access some of the cooler abilities earlier on. Think of it like level 1 is just particularly talented people, and level 20 is basically godhood. So you guys are definitely already heroes, and powerful, by the time the game starts." 

"How do we level up?"

"Well, we can either do it by XP - experience points, like a video game, you get them for killing monsters - or by milestone. Milestone is where I decide when the party is ready to level up. I prefer that way, if that's okay with you and Lena?"

"Trust me, I have literally no preference. Lena?"

"Yes, me neither. I don't really understand it yet, but I trust you."

James grinned. "Okay! So, if Kara's hunger-fog has lifted a little, shall I tell you guys a little bit about the world we'll be playing in?" 

Kara looked up from the now empty pizza box in front of her, a little bit of sauce on her chin. Sheepishly, she nodded at James as she reached under the table for a second pie. Lena reached into the center of the table to take a slice of her own, reminding herself that worrying about the health effects of the grease was not going to help her make friends with these people. 

_ Just be cool.  _

Instead of listening to her mother's voice chastising her for her food choices, she focused on the rising excitement in James' as he explained the world that he had created. 

"Welcome, everyone," he began, deepening his voice and spreading out his hands, "to Alcandor. On this continent, a temperate region of the planet Toot, men, Elves and dwarves live together in relative harmony. While wizard researchers have made impressive breakthroughs recently in arcane technologies, very little of their progress has yet to reach the common man. Instead, life is hard for most people - for the past hundred years, the soil has been inexplicably difficult to work with, making food scarce. Most citizens are employed in farming in some way. Only the rich know what a full stomach feels like. The five of you have all found yourselves thrown into prison overnight. You're the only prisoners in this small gaol, in the usually peaceful town of Rintbrook. Who wants to introduce themselves first?"

Sam bounced a little bit in her seat. "Me!"

"On you go."

"Okay, so I'm Neverday Burnhands. I'm a dark elf sorceress. I've got gray skin and silver hair that I keep buzzed short. I'm wearing, like, a leather halter top and genie pants. I got arrested because my _asshole_ ex-boyfriend is a town guard who's told his buddies to pull me up over every little thing. This time it was lewd behaviour, which is _not_ true! If I was being lewd then everyone would know about it."

"Brilliant. In this town the guards are called strongrods."

"Great, my asshole ex is a strongrod. He's definitely overcompensating is all I'm saying." Sam shot Alex a wink.

"Nia, do you want to go next?"

"Sure! I'm Nip Winters. I'm a tabaxi rogue, I have sort of calico colouring and long whiskers. I'm in jail because I tried to pickpocket a nobleman and didn't realise he had magical anti-theft charms."

"Amazing. Alex?"

Lena breathed a sigh of relief. Alex going first let her gauge how she should introduce her own character. Alex, meanwhile, looked down at her character sheet nervously.

"Uh, okay... my character's name is Pilora Redboot. She's a... paladin? A knight, but with some magic. Right? And she's a Tiefling, which is like part devil, so it's maybe a conflict that she's a bit demonic and a bit holy? Maybe? She's uh -  _ I'm _ , sorry -  _ I'm _ in jail for challenging someone to a duel who insulted my god."

Kara, whose devouring of the pizzas had slowed from ravenous to merely frenzied, was watching her sister with undisguised pride. Lena saw her shoot Alex a thumbs up out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t comment on it. Alex, seemingly relieved that she didn’t have to talk anymore, slumped back in her seat.

Then it was Lena’s turn. She felt the familiar unpleasant twisting in her gut she knew from years of scientific presentations and, more recently, board meetings to be stage fright. She should have just come clean to Sam immediately. Better yet, she should have brought up her interests to her  _ best friend _ when it started. Not only might it have saved her sleepless nights worrying about the relationship between her hobby and the evil brother she still kind of loved, but it would have let her get through presenting a character dear to her heart without also having to worry about being caught in a lie. She was reminded, painfully, of her many failed attempts at flirting with women while still in the closet. Thank God Sam was at least aware of her sexuality, if not her fondness for table-top roleplaying games. 

It was just that she had gotten so  _ used _ to keeping her love of D&D to herself. Partly it was embarrassment, sure, at both the geeky hobby and the love of the game she learned about through Lex, but she’d begun to enjoy keeping her little secret. It felt private. She’d put so much of herself into her characters, imagined escaping to far off fantasy worlds so many times, it began to feel like discussing the game would be similar to divulging the contents of her therapy sessions. 

All of which, of course, led her here.

“Okay, yes. So, my name is Simahl. I’m a half-orc, mostly an alchemist but I’ve heard you can take levels in multiple classes? Right, Sam?”

Sam nodded, looking a little surprised but not suspicious.

“Right. So I’ve also got a level of barbarian. I just thought it would be cool to play a scientist whose experiments caused him to gain powers he struggles to control. I have kind of blue-ish skin, and long hair in a bun. It’s black. And I’m in jail because I got into a bar fight last night.”

James smiled. “That’s brilliant, Lena. There just might be an issue about casting spells while raging?”

“Yes, Kara brought that up but we discussed it and think we can make it work, if I’ve understood everything correctly.”

“Grand. Speaking of… Kara? Are you willing to put the pizza down for long enough to tell us who you are?”

Kara glared at him, audibly swallowing with an exaggerated gulp and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. “Rude! I’m always ready for D&D.”

As Kara pulled out her character sheet, her posture changed. Her spine straightened, and Lena realised she was a little taller than she had thought. She pulled her hair down from her ponytail and ran her fingers through the long, blonde waves. The air of clumsy bubbliness fell away, leaving a quiet, relaxed confidence. She looked like a hero. She was also achingly familiar, Lena realised. Maybe Alex was right - maybe they had met? What was it about Kara’s face that niggled at the back of her mind? In this character, Lena could have sworn she’d seen those strong features multiple times before.

Then her voice dropped into a strong Texan drawl and the familiarity was gone. 

“Hey y’all, I’m Sandy!” she began. The table fell about laughing at the accent change, and Kara bowed her head in acknowledgement before continuing. “Well, bless me, I’m a human ranger. A beastmaster, if you want to get all fancy and specific about it. This here-“ she gestured to the empty space beside her, nearly hitting Lena by mistake, “is El, my buddy. He’s a Labrador, as you can probably tell. We’ve been travelling together for quite some time, he keeps me company, so he does. And as for why I’m here? Well-“ she glared at Lena, flashing her a wink when she paled in response, “let’s just say it takes two to start a bar fight, and I gave as good as I got.”

Lena’s eyes widened. This had not been discussed. A little part of her was caught off guard - they would have to improvise a backstory, a reason for fighting that didn’t make either one of them evil or it impossible for them to work together. Mostly, however, she felt a delighted grin spread across her face. This was what she had hoped for - something collaborative. She could write as much lore for Simahl as she liked, but she’d never be able to react as him, in character, if she wasn’t thrown a few curveballs. 

“But yeah, that’s me! I’m in a green tunic and boots, my hair is long and super blonde.” 

“So, you look like you?” snorted Alex.

Kara pouted. “No! Blonder.”

“To be fair, in the last campaign she played a tortle, so she’s due something a little bit more familiar” pointed out Sam, taking the opportunity to lean in close to Alex as she did. Alex seemingly noticed, less due to her own powers of perception and more Sam’s complete lack of subtlety, and smiled shyly. 

James took the opportunity to rein the conversation back in, bringing out a small leather satchel cinched closed with string. Opening it up, he let the contents spill out in front of his screen. Nia and Sam pounced forward like hungry scavengers to scoop up his offerings - a collection of dice. The stash of precious gemstones came in a huge array of colours, shapes and sizes. Sam gleefully scraped together a bright red and orange group, while Nia picked out a mixed collection of whites and pinks. Alex looked a little overwhelmed. She glanced helplessly at Kara, who lent over the table to her. Ignoring James’ pile, she passed Alex a little transparent plastic box which held what looked like a sky blue set. 

“Here, I got you a gift.”

Alex started to smile, but it quickly fell to a frown as she inspected the dice. She looked up at Kara with dead eyes. “You’re lucky I don’t throw these at you.”

Peering closer, Lena realised what the issue was - rather than simply being blue, the set appeared instead to have tiny red crests on each side. Where there would normally be a familiar “S”, there were instead stylised numbers. Lena cocked her head.

“Do you not like Supergirl, Alex?”

“Yeah Alex, why don’t you like her?” teased Kara.

The tip of Alex’s ears flushed red as she stuttered “Uh, no, I do-“

“It’s okay,” Sam reassured her, nodding sagely, “we all have a crush on Supergirl.”

“What?! No! No, it’s not that-“

“Yeah,” Nia agreed with a mischievous smile, “this is a safe space to admit it.”

Strangely, Kara now appeared to be blushing as hard as Alex. “Come on guys, that’s not what I meant!”

“I suppose I can understand why the FBI might have an issue with vigilantism,” Lena mused, offering an attempted rescue. Kara latched onto the explanation gratefully.

“Yes, that’s it! Nobody’s crushing on Supergirl. It was just an FBI joke.”

“Well, I imagine most of National City is crushing on Supergirl, but it’s possible Alex is an exception.” She wasn’t sure why Kara seemed to stifle a squawk at this, but Alex at least appeared mollified. James, perhaps in an effort to get the session back on track, motioned to the pile in front of him.

“Lena, I guess you’ll need to borrow a set? If you want.”

She smiled at him, standing up to get a better view of the array. She had never inherited Lex’s obsession with collecting dice, but she could understand it - some of them were gorgeous. She’d considered buying herself a set before the game, but put it off. The options online were seemingly unending, and she’d collated a good ten or more tabs with potential candidates before getting overwhelmed. Besides, she justified, turning up with her own dice might have seemed suspicious.  _ And _ , whispered the voice she preferred to ignore,  _ if the session had fallen through it might have been a little too painful a reminder of the false hope of friendship.  _

An emerald green set caught her eye and she scooped them up gratefully. There were seven dice total, with numbers of sides ranging between four and twenty. Lena pressed her thumb into the sharp tip of the four sided die: the “d4” was a little pyramid shape that she could just see herself dropping and stepping on. That had to hurt. It was the “d20” she liked the best, the icosahedron that sparkled with little flecks of silver amidst the rolling greens. It felt good in her hand.

Kara, she noticed, had her own set. They were a creamy white, with the numbers etched in gold. She fiddled with them, idly rolling the d20 a couple of times. James glances around the table, smiling at the group. “We ready? Alex, Lena?”

Lena modded. She didn’t quite catch what it was that Alex muttered, but it earned her a playful shove from Sam.

“Okay. Any time you aren’t sure what to do, just ask. We’re a very chill group,” his voice dropped once more to the same dramatic rumble he had used earlier, “let’s begin. The cell the five of you sit in is the only communal cell in the Rintbrook Holding Cell for Peace Breachers. It looks like it could maybe fit six prisoners max, and you’re the only ones in there, so you have a little bit of leg room. It’s clean, and dry, but dank.  There's one window, about six feet above the floor, sealed with bars. The front wall of the cell is also made of iron bars, with a locked door. The walls are lined with a little wooden bench, splintered and hard. Outside the bars you can see a guard making occasional patrols. You can’t see the entrance or reception from this angle. The light from the window tells you it’s early morning, about 8am or so."

James looked up from the notes he had been reading from and grinned at the assembled group. " What is everyone doing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and thank you SO much to everyone who has left kudos and comments so far. I have been struggling with a few questions, and would love to get people's opinions:
> 
> 1) How do people feel about the chapter lengths? I've been doing shorter chapters so that I can upload regularly without running out of material and causing an accidental hiatus, but I feel like they might be erring towards TOO short. 
> 
> 2) Does it feel like there's too much exposition of the rules of DnD? Not enough? I'm trying to balance for all readers, but it's a weird line to walk. 
> 
> 3) How much "playing the game" would people want to read (i.e. actual play-by-play of the characters making decisions and rolling dice) vs just general overviews of what happens? Obviously we're all here for romance, but I'm just not sure of the balance.
> 
> Thanks again, to everyone!!!! Have a great week guys
> 
> Also, because it feels weird not to introduce myself, call me Noah!


	5. Session One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game gets going!

James looked up from the notes he had been reading from and grinned at the assembled group. " What is everyone doing?”

  
  


Kara - ‘ _ Sandy’  _ \- kicked things off. In that same Southern lily she drawled, “I’m just keeping an eye on the nerdy half-orc in the corner. I know how dangerous he is when he gets mad.”

“And what is Simahl up to?”

Now, Lena had a choice. It was clear doing voices and acting your character as much as possible was accepted here, even encouraged, but she had to see Sam outside of this safe room and encouraging group. Would she mock her? Or worse, pity her for trying too hard and making a fool of herself? She looked over to where her friend was smiling at her encouragingly, and swallowed a brief twinge of regret. Sam was brash, sure, but how many times did she have to defy Lena’s expectations - treat her with only respect and affection - before Lena finally trusted her enough to be vulnerable? She knew it was her own insecurities holding her back - It wasn’t fair to use Sam as an excuse for that. Besides, she might have been carefully avoiding looking over at the blonde goddess beside her, lest her stage fright and fear of beautiful women compound to leave her a stuttering mess, but there was no denying that Kara had broken the ice. Her accent work wasn’t exactly stellar, but it was full of enthusiasm and her friends had been nothing but delighted. 

Steeling herself, she took the plunge. She let her inflections soften into the brogue she’d practiced so many times while safely alone. With an unmistakably Irish lilt, she turned to face Kara and raised an imperious eyebrow. 

“I’m watching the blonde woman in the corner. I don’t know where that mutt of hers’ went, but I’m not taking my chances.”

‘Sandy’ visibly bristled, and Lena smirked. 

“Great, anyone else?” asked James.

Sam growled. “I’m trying to catch the attention of the BASTARD guard. Hey! Dickhead! You wanna tell your buddy that locking me up won’t make him any less of a pathetic little weasel?”

James considered that for a second. “Okay. Roll persuasion or intimidation to see how he reacts.”

“Ooh, first roll of the game! Okay, I’ll do...uh, intimidation. Yeah, I’m proficient in it, so that’s plus seven.” She rolled her d20 with a flourish, but visibly deflated when she saw the result. “That’s a three. So, ten total intimidation.”

“He spits at you and turns his back.”

‘Neverday’ slumped back in frustrated disappointment. “Damn. Screw these guys.”

“Alex, what is Pilora doing?

“Oh, um. I don’t know. Do I have my sword?”

“No, all your equipment was confiscated when you were arrested.”

“Right, makes sense. I guess I’m… praying?”

“What are you praying for?”

“Uh… for the goddess to show me a way out of this situation.”

“Okay, make a religion check.”

“Remind me how I do that?”

“Roll the twenty sided die and add your religion modifier. It should be on your character sheet, the skills are in alphabetical order.”

Alex squinted at her sheet, running a finger down the list until she found what she was looking for. “Right. Plus two. So… that’s a sixteen plus two, eighteen? That’s pretty good!”

James chuckled. “Yeah, it is. So you sit down, feeling vulnerable without your weapons and armour, and call out to Titania. You focus on your sense of helplessness. You’re trapped, how are you to fulfil your oaths to her if you’re stuck in jail? And a familiar feeling comes over you, a smell of lemongrass and honey that you know means the goddess is listening. As she tends to, Titania communicates with you not through words but by making you feel the emotions she chooses. You immediately feel yourself calm down a little bit, but then the two strongest sensations that wash over you are disappointment and loneliness. With an eighteen you can infer that the goddess isn’t happy with you getting into a fight, and that being isolated won’t help this situation.”

Alex nodded to herself. “I send an apology, and try to explain that I was only defending her honor.”

“You get no further response.”

Nia spoke up, pantomiming stroking her whiskers. “While everyone is distracted, can I make some kind of check to see if there are any means of escape? I’m looking at the window and the doors.”

“Roll investigation.”

“Thirteen.”

“Okay. The bars on the window seem pretty sturdy, you can’t tell if someone really strong could bend them but you certainly couldn’t. The door has a single padlock, and you can’t see any obvious signs of traps, alarms or surveillance.”

“How regularly does the guard come by the cell?”

“Pretty regularly.”

“Hm.”

Still hesitant, but clearly trying to channel some aspect of Pilora’s character, Alex leant forward. “Well, I can’t wait around while these people try to decide what they think justice is. Anyone else?”

Nip nodded, licking an imaginary paw. “I’ve already begun looking for escape routes. This kitten can’t be caged,” she purred. Lena caught Kara’s eye and smiled. Nia was clearly enjoying herself. 

And so the group began to concoct their escape plan. As they bickered and negotiated, rolling occasional stealth checks to avoid the notice of the guard while Simahl and Sandy argued about the best way to steal his keys, Lena found her initial insecurities melting away. It was until Sam glanced at her watch, eyes widening in horror, and leapt from the table that Lena realised she hadn’t spoken in her normal accent for more than two hours. 

“Shit! I have to go before Ruby’s sitter murders me. Goddamn you James, you’re far too much fun as a DM. Lena, babe, we on for coffee tomorrow morning?”

“Swing by my office and I’ll try.”

“If I come all the way to your building then we are getting the damn coffee. Okay, love yah, thanks everyone, see you guys next week!”

She swept out the front door. With their sorceress gone to pick up her four year old, the group collectively sank back into their real identities. Lena took stock of herself, picking up on her own exhaustion for the first time. She’d been talking and thinking about what had  _ felt  _ like a very real puzzle for hours. Despite her dehydration and slight headache, she could feel her face naturally resting in a smile. 

“Thank you all so much, James especially.”

Kara, Alex and Nia echoed the sentiments, which James waved away. 

“I can’t believe you guys spent all that time planning and didn’t even get out of the jail. I had a whole session prepared.”

Kara stood up and walked around to hug him. “‘Now you don’t have to do extra prep for next week! Alex, what did you think of your first ever night of D&D?

Alex sniffed. “It was fine, I guess.”

“Fine! You had an amazing time and you know it! When you tried to convince the guard to come into the cell? Genius! Shame you rolled a two, but genius!”

Alex was visibly smug as she picked up her Supergirl dice. “It wasn’t too bad. James, you must have put a lot of work into this?”

He flushed. “I mean, kinda. It’s a hobby, I find planning the sessions pretty fun.”

“I can’t wait to run my own campaign one day!” Kara sighed, wistful. If her role play was any indication, Lena imagined she’d be pretty good at it. She considered saying as much, opening her mouth and closing it again. It felt almost too personal. 

That night, as she lay flicking through the Dungeon Master’s Guide on a bed worth more than the contents of Alex’s entire flat, she felt peace settle into her bones. It stayed until morning.

—-

“Alex, will you just admit you had a brilliant time?”

Kara sat across from her sister in a sunny park, the pair splayed out on the grass. She stretched her toes, glancing lazily around at the other pedestrians. A toddler, blonde and waddling in a parka three sizes too big for him, lifted his arms up to his mom. A pair of teenagers made eyes at each other across a shared pair of headphones. It felt kind of gross to dwell on her own heroism, but it was nice to look at National City in the quiet sometimes. Would this area have been affected, if the night before had gone differently? 

Going from a D&D session to rescuing a falling plane in the space of a few hours didn’t sound like a normal night, but Kara was finding these quick changes increasingly common: there had been the night when negotiating a hostage situation with an Owlbear King had turned into negotiating an actual hostage situation with a pair of petty muggers; then the wizard’s duel that preceded a particularly nasty altercation with a domestic abuser. After a night of rolling poorly, Kara had enjoyed the win of seeing the wife and her children safe from her soon-to-be ex.

The incident with the  _ Venture _ \- leaving her party to soar through the sky with the man who had bought her her very first dice set - had certainly been a highlight. Even now, Kara struggled to still her excited legs from bouncing as she anticipated her upcoming morning. A  _ real _ interview with a  _ real _ reporter and a  _ real _ CEO. She brushed cookie crumbs off her jumper, suddenly nervous. Sure, she and Clark were really going to find out if this Luthor woman was involved in the sabotage of the plane they’d saved, but it counted! It was Clark’s connections as Clark Kent, not as Superman, that had gotten them the interview, after all. 

Alex reached forward to take a cookie from the bag they shared. “I will admit I enjoyed spending my evening among friends, regardless of the activity. That’s the best you’re going to get.”

Kara smiled slyly. “You enjoyed one person’s company in particular, looked like.”

“What?”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you and Sam!”

Alex spluttered, forcing out an awkward laugh. “What!? No! No.”

Kara said nothing, scarfing down another cookie as she waited. Finally, Alex relented.

“...okay! You could have mentioned how hot she was when you were trying to convince me to come. But she’s taken.”

“Taken? She hasn’t said anything to me?” Kara frowned. Sam hadn’t had a date since Ruby’s dad left, she knew - less out of heartbreak and more a lack of time. 

But Alex looked confused. “Yeah? Her and Lena, right? I swear I recognise her, by the way.”

“Sam and Lena? What makes you say that?” Kara laughed nervously. 

“Uh, they arrived together, they’re both obviously into women, Sam called her ‘babe’-“

“You think Lena’s into women?”

Alex closed her mouth abruptly and fixed Kara with a piercing look. “Really?”

“I didn’t mean it like  _ that! _ I just hadn’t picked up on it. But there’s no way Sam is taken with the way she was flirting with you.”

“First of all, barbarian is absolutely the gayest subclass for a woman to play, and I hate that I know that. Second, Sam was just being friendly.” 

“...well, okay, I maybe should have picked up on the barbarian thing. But Sam was practically drooling! Maybe they’re just friends?” Kara struggled to hide her hopeful tone. 

Alex scoffed. “Are you asking for me or you?”

“For you, of course! I don’t like Sam like that.”

“Maybe not Sam.”

Kara choked on a cookie. “Lena? I mean, she’s obviously beautiful, it’s not like I hadn’t noticed, but-”

“But?”

“But you are  _ changing the subject! _ When are you going to put yourself out there? You haven’t had a date since I can remember!”

“You sound like our mother. Now stop hogging the cookies, we’ve only got ten more minutes before I have to get back to work. Don’t you have to meet Clark?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everybody, and thanks SO much for all the comments and all the answers to my questions in the last chapter. I'll be keeping the chapter lengths roughly the same, and will be trying to balance gameplay with plot and romance. This, as the first session of their game, is a little bit play-heavy, but it will probably cool down later! Do let me know what you think - if you want fewer chapters like this (i.e. with lots of gameplay) or more. Also, if anyone has any thoughts or advice on pacing, I'm all ears! 
> 
> Seriously, all the comments mean the world to me. Thank you, guys.
> 
> On a happy note, my partner is enjoying the story! She's DMing a halloween one shot for me and a couple of friends soon, I'm very excited!


End file.
